Brown Mountain Lights

This month Minnie is exploring the alphabet by digging out the unusual, often unexplained and alternative way of thinking. Stories of creatures, places and mysteries that have been passed down to us through centuries tease our imagination, live in our dreams and dare us to explore the impossible. Join Minnie each day as she discovers something unusual in the alphabet.

 

“How do we know that the sky is not green and we are all color-blind?”

For over 800 years, a famous spectacle of strange lights has been reported to decorate the sky at Brown Mountain in North Carolina, USA. The native Cherokees thought them to be the spirits of slain warriors.

The Brown Mountain Lights are balls of illumination that move in groups often near the sides of the ridge. They are mostly white in color but have been seen to turn red, green, blue, yellow and other colors. In the year 2000 Brian Irish of L.E.M.U.R Paranormal Investigations managed to capture the lights on film for the first time.

It is not fully understood what causes the lights to appear. One theory is that the lights are being caused by swamp gas released by dying plant and animal matter however the lack of swampland in the area would seem to rule this out. Other theories put forward include ball lightning, electrically charged plasma and big surprise, even extraterrestrial visitation. Joshua P. Warren who has studied these lights said "they seem to line up into troop formation and march across the ridge, disappearing over the top." The best time for viewing this light show is in the Fall. 

 The photo above was taken from night vision video by Dean Warsing (www.UFOnightShift.com) on October 13, 2009, and enhanced by Brian Irish and Christopher McCollum.

Hope to see you again soon for another trip into the mystic.